A boat at Deatons is evidence that Carolina Blue isn’t exclusive to the Tarheel state. (That’s not Goteborg, NC. The city is the 2nd largest in Sweden.)

Friday July 31, 2015

There’s a new mayor in Oriental. The Town Board yesterday appointed former Commissioner Warren Johnson to serve the remainder of Bill Sage’s term. Sage, who was mayor from late 2007 resigned earlier this month.

The 3-1 appointment vote came during the Board’s agenda meeting. Those voting in favor were David White, Sandy Winfrey and Barb Venturi, who is the mayor pro tem and had been fulfilling some of the mayoral duties since Sage resigned. Commissioner Larry Summers was the dissenting vote.

Johnson served on the town board on and off between 2005 and 2013. Over that time, he built a reputation of more closely scrutinizing finances and Town expenditures than most of his colleagues.

Earlier this month Johnson filed to run for a seat on the Town Board in November’s election. Then, a day later, the day the mayor resigned, Johnson withdrew his name from the ballot.

Johnson will serve as mayor until December when the newly elected board is sworn in.

Looking a bit farther down the ol’ time road…. Harborfest is coming up on September 18-19 at River Dunes’ Grace Harbor. Arts and music and a couple of evenings of dinner and dance.

It’s all to raise funds for Heartworks, which provides after-school care – and a lot more – for kids in Pamlico County. More details, here.

Highs in the upper 80s and 50-50 chance of rain today, lesser chance over the weekend, according to the Oriental Weather Forecast

Thursday July 30, 2015

4:49p Oriental has an interim mayor. Warren Johnson was elected in a 3-1 vote of the Town Board earlier this hour at the Board’s agenda meeting. Johnson, a former Town Board Commissioner will serve until December. He will complete the term of Bill Sage who resigned earlier this month.

Commissioner Barbara Venturi who was mayor pro tem had been carrying out the mayor’s duties before today.

Commissioner David White made the motion to make Johnson the interim mayor. Commissioners Venturi and Sandy Winfrey also voted for Johnson. Larry Summers did not.

10:03a Wow, but July’s slipping past quickly.

This afternoon, Oriental’s’ Town Board meets for an agenda meeting, the prequel to next Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting. Some interesting bits on the advance agenda. One: a discussion on appointing, officially, an interim mayor now that Bill Sage has resigned.

Another item: unsealing of minutes from closed door meetings where the Town Board discussed the land swap on the harbor with Chris Fulcher. These meetings date to January 2012 and have been sealed since then. Unsealing the minutes may shed light on what was said and how things were negotiated.

Today’s meeting is open to the public, as all meetings technically are…

Tuesday July 28, 2015

Wee bit of a chance of showers this afternoon. Otherwise an upper-80’s kind of summer day. The Oriental Weather Forecast has highs of 89 straight thru next Monday. 50-50 chance of rain Friday and Saturday.

The song, “Summertime,” has the fish a-jumpin’ this time of year. Fish, we’ve got – check – but this summer they are not the only wildlife out there. Some days, it seems we’re living in an episode of Wild Kingdom.

There are, of course, as reported here, the bears a-foragin’. Rabbits seem to be popping up in town in greater numbers than other summers. And squirrels (aka: rats with fuzzy tails) are in abundance. Too much abundance for some likings. Brunswick stew, anyone?

In What’s Happening. there’s the NSA Poker Run this afternoon. Tonight, Dale’s walkin’ and talkin’ ghosts on his ghost walk,. you can bless your bike later today. And visit the open house at Pamlico Community College this morning thru mid-afternoon.

Friday July 24, 2015

As if we didn’t get enough rain yesterday, more could fall today. But no rain’s in the Oriental Weather Forecast for the weekend. Tomorrow, actually, looks like a perfect summer day.

Just when you thought the bears might have retreated to the woods.. there was an apparent visit in town on Ragan Road a few nights ago.

Walter Lane says that on Tuesday morning, he found his compost container upended and the chain link gate to the back yard twisted. Walter lives on Ragan right near Link and a mere block from the Neuse.

This bear visit to Walter Lane’s yard underlines what NC Wildlife Officer Daniel Kennedy said last week in his talk in Florence – that bears will seek out yards where they smell a meal. And once they suss that yard can be a food source, they will return. The point, says the Wildlife officer, is to remove the potential lures, whether you live in a subdivision in rural Merritt or right in relatively more urban Oriental.

Here in town, we may be advised to lock down those composters — and definitely don’t put any melon bits or rinds in there cos it’s like crack to a bear. Don’t hang a bird feeder this time of year – it’ll become a bear feeder. Be a bit more mindful about the food waste you put in the outside trash bin in this hot weather..

As the wildlife officer stressed, the bear’s just looking for a meal and doesn’t generally pose a threat to humans or pets. That happens only when the bear feels cornered or threatened itself. The chances of that, though, increase the more the bears feel they can forage in our midst.

An impressive thunderstorm late last night. It cooled the night air and lo-and-behold, this morning we have a string of days ahead with temps in the 80’s – not a 90 among them – says the Oriental Weather Forecast.

10:57p We are getting a serious thunderstorm this hour. There was reverberatingly strong crack a little while ago, seemingly a block or three from the Duck Pond. And a second not so far from the harbor a while after that.

The sky’s still roiling and rain’s falling — and all of this has sent the temperature down at 8-10 degrees in the past hour.

6a Got a kayak you’re not using anymore? Sure, you might make an out-of-the-ordinary garden planter from it, but you’d have to ballast it when hurricane waters come to your yard.

Another solution would be to donate your kayak to Sound Rivers. Rather like the give-a-car-to-public-radio campaign, on an Oriental level.

Creek Keeper Bill Hines with Sound Rivers has been evangelistic about getting people to try paddling on local waters. He has a small fleet of kayaks but could use more in order to loan them out for the trips he leads up area creeks.

“If you have a kayak that you are not using and that is taking up space,” Bill says, “consider donating it to Sound Rivers.” (Sound Rivers is the new merger of the Neuse and Tar/Pamlico Riverkeepers.)

“You can take a tax deduction and also when you would like to go kayaking you can borrow a boat. It’s a win-win,” says Bill. Just call him at 571-0264. He can pick up the kayak you no longer want.

11:20a Three months from now — hopefully a cooler time — the Ol’ Front Porch Music Fest returns to Oriental after its magical first run last fall. For 5 hours, on October 17, some porches in Oriental will become in to stages for musicians.

Organizers are busy planning it now and are calling out for porches, musicians and (for the marketplace to be set up) artisans. Got a porch in Oriental that they can use?

In other participatory news, a fund has been set up on behalf of Eric Kindle.

The Oriental resident and paramedic was off-duty when a 911 call of a potential drowning came in near his business after midnight on July 5. He went to the scene. Asked to move the ambulance from one side of a building to another, he clipped a parked pickup truck’s fender. Lawmen on the scene had him take a Breathalyzer test and charged him with DUI which has had the effect of sidelining him from responding to calls.

His case – and track record as a paramedic – has sparked many Letters to the Editor. A fund has also been set to help defray his legal fees. (It is said that any money left over would go emergency services in the county.)

There are two ways to give. On-line, one may contribute via the Gofundme site. Or, contributions may be made to the “Eric Kindle & Pamlico County EMS Drive” and presented at or mailed to: First Citizens Bank, 409 Broad Street, Oriental, NC 28571

6a Take care about your outside activity today. The Oriental Weather Forecast has our high near the mid-90’s on the thermometer and, combined with the humidity, a heat index of 106. Hydrate and stay cool…

Coming up in a bit – more details on the 2nd Annual Ol’ Front Porch Music Fest and how you can take part, whether you want to offer your porch, your performance or sell your art work.

And another story: a legal defense fund’s been set up for Eric Kindle. We’ll have those details too… stay tuned.

Back in the winter — remember that season and its gelid cold? — there was a beans-and-rice dinner at Oriental’s Methodist church to raise funds for a clean water project in Nicaragua. Laurie Sampson’s son, Rob was a volunteer with that project and the money helped buy a dirt bike so he could reach more villages. Rob is in Oriental this weekend and speaking at the 8:30 and 11a services about his experiences in Camoapa, Nicaragua. (And he’ll be at the fellowship hall between services.) All are welcome to attend.